This is a rags to riches story of a young Irish girl forced to leave her homeland because of the Irish Potato Famine.
Bound by the constraints of her Catholic marriage to Jack her childhood friend, Maggie plays the role of a dutiful wife and daughter-in-law until one day Fate lends a helpful hand.
Excerpt
Home in Killala was like any other in the hamlet; a windowless dwelling made of earth blocks, small and mean, not airy and spacious like the Filbey farm. It had a large hole in the sod roof that let the smoke from the fire through. The floor was made of hard packed earth and a rug that Mairi had once woven was worn with age. The fireplace was the focal point of the cabin. Built into a deep alcove at the far end of the construction, it had wooden beams supporting an arch. Baked earth served as a hearth and upon it sat a primitive fire. Above this, dangling from an iron contraption knocked into the earth, was a heavy cooking pot suspended by smoke blackened chains. Nearby sat a big iron kettle that could also be suspended over the peat block fire.
Tralee, Ireland. September 1948.
An arrogant, and highly agitated, priest arrives home after 40 years.
Days later he's dead. Suicide? Or did his past catch up with him?
Autumn 1940. Germany invades Britain. Newport is blitzed. Danny O’Shea’s house is bombed, his wife is killed. While taking his young son Adam to neutral Ireland, they witness an attack on a German convoy. The result is brutal.
A delightfully rare Historical Novel. 85% a biography of a spy, musician, mother and her neice trapped behind German lines in World War I. This background led to a diplomatic post in World War II. Aged 92, Vera disclosed her past life one year before
